Eggs: Fresh Again

For such a little guy, the egg carries more than its fair
share of mythical baggage. In earlier times, the yolk of an egg
was compared to the sun, and the entire egg was thought to
symbolize the creation of the universe. Today, we dye eggs at
Easter, and we recite nursery rhymes about poor
Humpty-Dumpty.

And we eat a lot of eggs. In
America, eggs are a staple, and for good reason: They're easy to
prepare, versatile, nutritious, and cheap. Americans
love eggs.

That wasn't always true.
Several decades ago, researchers discovered a connection between
elevated levels of blood cholesterol and the overwhelming
incidence of coronary heart disease in this country. It was
suspected that dietary cholesterol influenced the level of
cholesterol in the blood. Consequently, in an effort to decrease
the amount of cholesterol in the American diet, the American Heart
Association recommended limiting total cholesterol intake to less
than 300 milligrams a day. Since one yolk contains 213 milligrams
of dietary cholesterol, we were instructed to indulge in no more
than four eggs per week. Egg consumption dropped dramatically
 but not forever.

More recent scientific
research indicates that it might very well be saturated fat
 more so than dietary cholesterol  that leads
to high blood cholesterol. One large egg contains only 5 grams of
total fat; of this fat, only 1.5 grams is saturated. (By
comparison, there are 5 grams of saturated fat in a lean
hamburger.)

And lest we forget, there is a lot more
to an egg than cholesterol and fat. Eggs are a good source of
protein, iron and vitamins A, D and B12 and have only 75 calories
each. This doesn't mean you can fry up a couple with lots of
butter every morning, but it does mean that eggs can and should be
part of a healthful, balanced diet.